


Swim Meet

by maebyrutherford (maeberutherford)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Flirting, Blood, Diving, F/M, Injury, Swimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 02:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5112368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maeberutherford/pseuds/maebyrutherford
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cullen Rutherford is on his college swim team and preparing for the Olympic tryouts, but he has a little accident during practice - or, how Cullen got his scar, version 26,998. Based on conversations on tumblr with the artist feralise - <a href="http://feralise.tumblr.com/post/131076303972/swimmer-indulging-in-more-moderncullen-because">click here for her amazing artwork of Cullen in Speedos!</a></p>
<p>Cullen. In tiny red Speedos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swim Meet

Cullen cut his arms through the water and swam upward until his face broke the surface, only to hear wild cheers from his teammates. He climbed out of the pool and grinned from ear to ear, despite the chlorinated water trickling into his mouth.

“Excellent form, Rutherford,” his coach boomed as he handed him a towel. “After Shelby, I want you to try the big one.”

“Reverse two and a half? I can do that with my eyes closed.” Cullen scoffed, wiping his face with the towel.

“Reverse  _three_  and a half.” Coach replied, crossing his arms.

Just for a moment, Cullen’s smug grin left his face. He had never attempted three and a half somersaults on a reverse dive before. But he was training for the Olympic tryouts, and he would have to push himself to his limits to prove himself worthy. He was already a shoo-in for 200 and 400 meter freestyles, having matched or beaten many of the best times on record, now he just had to nail these dives to cement his place on the next US team.

The easy smile returned. “No problem, coach.”

A voice cut through the din of the gymnasium, and Cullen’s eyes darted around, trying to locate the source. He would know that sound anywhere.

It was Fiona.

She wasn’t on the swim team but her brother was, and she often came by to hang out in between classes or to show support for her younger sibling. She was talking to him now, and even though Cullen knew he should be watching and cheering on Shelby, all his focus was on the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about since the first day he’d laid eyes on her.

It had been at the pizza joint down the street, a celebratory binge of greasy food and cheap beer after a hard fought victory against their rival school. Cullen had seen her walk in and found himself unable to look away, there was something magnetic about her brand of beauty, despite the attention of the women surrounding him. He’d watched as she laid her hands on Thomas, laughed and hugged and kissed his cheek, and was almost embarrassed at the relief he’d felt when she was introduced as his sister, the prom queen turned chem major. 

They’d talked a few times since then, mostly polite chit-chat at swim meets and practice, but that was because he found himself tongue tied and twisted with her, and only her. She wasn’t like other girls, quick-witted but approachable, beautiful but seemingly unaware of it. 

And now she was here. Perhaps it was the adrenaline rush from his string of successful dives, but he was feeling particularly bold today. He strolled over to where she was standing with her brother.

“Hey, it’s our rock star!” Thomas said cheerfully as he approached. “Fiona, Cullen has been nailing every single event. He’s gonna go all the way, gold medal. I’m sure of it.”

“Is that right?” Fiona’s smile was warm, relaxed. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised.”

Cullen thought he saw her eyes flick downward, and he self-consciously hiked up his speedos, feeling a blush come over him. Sometimes they could ride down a bit lower than appropriate from the force of the water.

“Are you blushing? C’mon, you know you’re the best on the team!” Thomas jostled his shoulder playfully. He wasn’t in the running for the Olympic trials but he seemed okay with it, the rare type of athlete that was in it mostly for fun.

“I don’t know about that,” Cullen said, rubbing the back of his neck. Even though Thomas was right he didn’t want to be a braggart, not in front of her.

It was like she was reading his mind. “You don’t have to play modest with me, it’s cool,” she laughed. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to tell you, your butterfly stroke is a work of art. It’s, um, quite pleasing to watch.” She held his gaze, her dark eyes saying something he didn’t quite understand, but wanted to.

“Thank you. I’ll be working on that stroke during next practice, if you’d like to see more of it.” He cringed inwardly as soon as the words left his mouth, but she gave him a shy smile, and suddenly he felt overexposed in his tiny red swimsuit, water still trickling from his blond curls down the crevices of his body. Thomas loudly cleared his throat.

“Then I’ll see you there,” she said in a low voice.

There was a splash and shouts of encouragement from the rest of the team.

“Rutherford!” Coach called out. “You’re up next! Reverse three and a half, chop-chop.”

Cullen blinked and tried to get his mind back into competition mode. “Wish me luck. Never attempted this one before.”

Before he could turn away, her lips were on his cheek so briefly he could have imagined it. “Good luck.”

Thomas was saying something too, but he didn’t hear it.

He approached the ladder to the platform and began to climb, with each step he took he went over the dive in his mind.  _Reverse, three and a half turns. You can do this. Push away, build momentum, curve the back but not too much, keep your legs straight, toes pointed, head tucked. Straighten, don’t overextend, point your fingers._

The gym was deathly quiet once he reached the top, all eyes on him. Cullen took slow purposeful steps across the concrete to the end, turning his back to the water and holding his arms perfectly straight out to the side. He steadied his breathing, threw his arms back and crouched, and suddenly her face appeared in his mind, smiling at him and her lips on his cheek, and when he launched himself into the air he knew it was too late to correct himself, that he didn’t give himself enough clearance.

He tried as hard as he could to twist and tuck his body but he was a split second too late. The concrete connected with his mouth and everything went white with pain, then there was a loud slap on his back and the wind was knocked out of him as he hit the water all wrong.

The world came back into view under the surface, and several bodies shot into the water around him. He heard muffled voices and felt hands grabbing and pulling his arms. Soon he was breathing air, everything was too bright and there was a lot of shouting.

“I’m all right,” he managed to sputter and then cried out from the pain, moving his mouth hurt beyond belief, it wouldn’t cooperate. Someone in the distance was yelling about a first-aid kit. His teammates surrounded him at the ladder, looking as if they’d seen a ghost.

“Aaah,” was all he could manage to say, and he was hoisted out of the water onto some towels. His coach’s face loomed over him.

“Shhh, don’t talk. You have a nasty cut on your lip, it’s split wide open. You’re lucky, a tiny bit more and you would have lost all of your front teeth. You’ll be fine but you need stitches, ambulance is on the way.” Coach began to dab the wound with gauze soaked with alcohol, and every touch was pure burning torture. Cullen grit his teeth and tried his hardest not to be alarmed at the enormous amount of blood that was coming away on the fabric.

Someone slid something soft under his head and a hand ran over his hair, and even though she’d never touched him, he knew exactly who it was before she even came into view. His hand reached toward her involuntarily and she took it, somehow managing to give him a comforting smile despite how awful he must look. Her presence beside him was calming, reassuring, his world hurt a little bit less with each squeeze of her hand wrapped around his, and that was the moment he knew he could love her.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like this, let me know! I may write more.


End file.
